Put On Your Duchenne Smile

We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do.~ Mother Teresa

Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened. ~Dr. Seuss

Everything keeps going wrong, but I woke up alive and THAT went right!

When all else fails... and it's failing... oh stop whining...

I have to thwack myself in the head and say "Self? Be grateful for all you have.
You woke up alive.
You have angels.
You have food and shelter.
There is nothing else you need.
GIVE THANKS!"

So this morning I am sitting here biting my tongue waiting and watching for the sunrise.

Biting my tongue so I don't whine and fuss. Tsk tsk tsk. Pain. It's not easy. Oh stop whining.

And... this is REALLY hard, plastering a SMILE on my face and counting to 10 really slowly while trying to crinkle up my eyes too.

Now I will try to SMILE again while listing 10 things I am thankful for... lawdy mercy my face hurts.

Oops, was that too honest? Sometimes a simple smile won't do, has to be real, has to be felt in the eyes. But a simple smile, if all I can muster... well it's a start.

Later as darkness broke into morning...
My eyes are smiling!
The sun is coming up!
It's BEAUTIFUL and I am alive to see it. WOW.

Now for the technical stuff:
Whenever we smile, there are 2 potential muscles we activate. The first one is the zygomaticus major and it controls the corners of your mouth. Scientists call this  the “social” smile. The second muscle, known to show sincerity is the obicularis occuli and it encircles our eye socket.

Guillaume-Benjamin-Amand Duchenne (de Boulogne) determined that smiles resulting from true happiness not only utilize the muscles of the mouth but also those of the eyes. Such "genuine" smiles are known as Duchenne smiles in his honor.

You'll find that life is still worthwhile, if you just smile. ~Charles Chaplin